Loud as a Whisper: A mediator who is deaf and speaks through a three-person chorus is transported to another planet to help some warring forehead aliens.

Yep, production order.

The Enterprise is transporting a mediator. Picard is in his ready room looking at a holographic star system and musing over its irregularity. Riker is annoyed that Picard is beaming down with the mediator. In the transporter room, Troi is making Worf uncomfortable by making him talk about his emotions. Wait, doesn't he decide to romance her in season 7? Man, he's some sort of glutton for punishment.

Picard, Worf and Troi beam down and admite the architecture until the title sequence. 1/10 for the pre-credits sequence. They're supposed to get the audience interested, Ms Zambrano.

The mediator, Riva, turns out to be deaf, and only communicates through three other people, the chorus, representing the scholar, the libido, and the other one. Riva also appears to be horny for Troi. They mean up and the Enterprise starts off to the planet where the mediating happens.

Picard introduces Riva to everyone and he seems very interested in Geordi's air filtervisor. He requests Riva show him around the ship, and he only takes his libido with him, leaving the other members of the chorus behind. Uh oh. Riva's beard looks fake. I wonder if it's a real one or not. Also he has Noel Edmunds hair.

There's a meeting with Riva about the planets he has to mediate, then Riva has a dinner date with Troi and teaches her some sign language. The dinner date is soon interrupted when the Enterprise reaches the target planet, only to find hostilities have resumed. Both sides are fairly nondescript Trek aliens.

Riva and his chorus beam down with Riker and Worf to what looks like a stone circle on a hilltop. They instruct Geordi to beam down some tables and stuff. A couple of representatives from each of the warring factions turn up, and the chorus is disintegrated Mars Attacks! style by a rogue agent in one of the parties. The away team beams up and Riva finds himself unable to communicate.

Data learns sign language from the computer and Riva says he's depressed about getting his chorus killed and doesn't want to help the warring aliens any more.

Pulaski tells Geordi she could give him more realistic optical devices, or possibly even regenerate his optical nerves and give him real eyes. He'll get back to her. This... probably has something to do with the rest of the plot, but I'm not entirely sure what.

Troi tells Riva she's going to beam down and try to help the aliens herself and asks for advice, but it's a cunning ploy, which he totally falls for, to talk him into doing it himself. He beams down with an away team, the table and some torches, and tells the others they can leave - he's going to teach the aliens sign language and thus give them something in common. That sounds like a dumb plan. Seriously, those aliens don't seem like the the patient type.

The Enterprise leaves orbit, and Picard thanks Troi for beating some sense into Riva. Teh end.

Bah, 5/10 if they're lucky. The idea of a bloke who's both deaf and has to communicate via three other people is a bloody good one, so I'll give them credit for that.